Wednesday, 27 August 2014

Today I am excited to bring you a mini haul from Mac, I will be sharing what items I chose but my first impressions and full reviews will come at a later date. Basically, ages ago I entered a giveaway over on the lovely Isha's blog and won a £50 gift card to spend at Mac so while I met a friend at Kings Cross after their flight I thought I would pop into the Mac store for a spend up.

The volcanic ash is mixed with super fine sugar crystals and is a dual purpose cleanser and exfoliator that refines and unclogs the skin but adds back in moisture.

I will be interested to see if this works well for my skin and really helps buff away any dead skin cells to reveal a sparkling complexion.

I also got the Rihanna Viva Glam lipstick and lipglass in the luxurious velvety red packaging.

The lipstick is a gorgeous blue-red with frost finish and has a subtle shine and gold sparkle. It's very pigmented and creamy and the colour is totally wearable.

I was only actually planning to get the lipstick but I couldn't resist the matching lipglass after swatching it.

Isn't it pretty?!

I hope you all enjoyed this little haul, I'm over the moon with the bits I picked up. Let me know below what your favourite Mac products are, I need some recommendations guys.Thanks for reading! Love Sally X

Monday, 25 August 2014

You may or may not have seen my tweets on this, but as a birthday treat me and my friend Gareth made our way to Essex with our Golden ticket in hand (ok computer print out in hand) to visit the wonderful world of Willy Wonka.

I'm a huge fan of pretty much all of Roald Dahl's books but Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has to be one of my absolute favourites so when I heard there was a walkthrough experience (probably more aimed at kids) I couldn't pass it up and managed to convince Gareth it might be a laugh at least!

You enter the experience under the guidance of the suitably eccentric Willy Wonka himself and to the tune of "Pure Imagination" just like in the film. The children in our group were literally hanging on his every word, as far as they were concerned he was the real deal and they were somewhere truly magical.

I learnt about candy canes and how the baby ones grow super curly and then grow upwards as they get older leaving only the small curl at the top. I also saw a lake full of lime soda, lot's of lollipops and candies, unfortunately not edible though!

The experience is very interactive, you go through a maze of mini scenarios such as a girl stuck in a tube, a bratty one that wants a golden goose egg and an American girl that is shrunk and stuck inside a television. The common theme being that we need to find Charlie in order to fix these problems also with the aid of some very mischievous oompa loompas.

The whole thing was really quite fun, even as an adult, our whole group was really immersed in the experience and laughing pretty much the entire way through. Especially at these ridiculous hats for the Wonka Vision scene, which served a practical purpose against a low ceiling but provided comedic value in equal measure.

The experience culminated as we found Charlie with his "attrifruits" and all of the problems in the earlier scenarios were resolved. Result!

Afterwards we had a few hours in nearby Southend before going back home and demolishing 2 large Dominos pizzas (between us, not each) which were just epic! I hope you enjoyed this post, I had a great birthday and for those of you wondering, my dress is from the Claire Richards range at Fashion World.Thanks for reading! Love Sally X

Wednesday, 20 August 2014

Today I am excited to be sharing with you the below secrets to summer confidence infographic in collaboration with Simply Be. Have a read and then scroll down to see my thoughts on each of the tips they have come up with and some interesting statistics!

Find swimwear that fits to perfection

I definitely think that underwiring is a huge must for me personally and paired with a nice pair of high waisted bottoms you get support from both, don't feel too on show as the high waist gives a little more coverage and just as comfortable as I would be in a one piece. There are so many jazzy prints and patterns available so you can really have fun with it and match them up with a cute sarong or wrap around, a floppy hat and shades for a super cool beachy fashionista style.

I have to say that loose waves are one of my favourite hairstyles in general and that's all year round. I usually use a Bumble and Bumble texturising salt spray on damp hair and it gives a really nice wave without being crunchy but nothing beats the real deal after a dip in the sea. Another trick I use is putting my hair in a fishtail braid or french plait to keep my hair away from my face when it's all hot and sticky but then later on you can undo the bobble to have natural waves with no product!

Now there have been some great summer editions out this year in the form of Jimmy Choo's Exotic, Katy Perry's Killer Queen in Oh So Sheer and my favourite which is Eclipse by Ghost. You can get yourself a free sample in this months Marie Claire so check it out when you're next out and about in town.

Pamper your hands and treat your feet

In my opinion, nothing says summer like bright neon nails and cute sandals, Get to Boots, grab some Barry M and you can even match the colour to your bikini!

Now on to the survey results! The main theme seems to be that us girls are really uncomfortable getting our stomachs out with a huge 71.3% of us feeling self conscious on holiday. I think going on a beach holiday can be a really daunting experience in general for a lot of women (me included), I know I get myself all worked up thinking that everyone will look at me and be judging me on how bigger I am in comparison when I'm wearing swimming gear. The irony is though that a lot of women of all sizes aren't confident on the beach and are generally more worried about themselves and how they look than bothering themselves by fretting over what I'm wearing/look like. I think it's important to maintain perspective, we do work ourselves up and most of the time it's not even warranted. With gorgeous kaftans and cover-ups available there really is something for everyone to wear on the beach and feel comfortable in, have a browse and see for yourself.

I hope the tips we have shared in the post help some of you and were interesting to read. Let me know if you'd like to see more posts like this in the future.

Thanks for reading! Love Sally X

*This is a PR collaborative post however the opinions as always are my own*

Sunday, 17 August 2014

So I was recently contacted by the Hut Group and kindly sent a bundle of goodies to try out and share with you guys. I was asked on my preferences on colours, hair and skin types etc but the products were left as a complete surprise. Here is what I got!

This is a product that's perfect for damaged hair and split ends, which when you have hair as long as mine is generally a bit inevitable. This product is going to help smooth out any frizzy bits, give a nice shine and generally nourish and help repair my ends. A great choice and 100% something that is going to be useful for me.

Next up is something that I already know and absolutely love, it's been much hyped about but I believe rightly so. It's the Benefit They're Real! Mascara (full size is £19.50)*.

I have tried this mascara before and quickly elevated it to my top 5 of all time mascaras (which I will do a seperate post on at a later date!!). The thing I love the most is the brush, as you can see below it's going to be perfect for coating the smaller lashes in the harder to reach parts and the bristles glide straight through leaving no clumps but tonnes of volume. Another perfect choice!

Then we have a product that just made me so excited to see in my package, a Nars Lipgloss* in Turkish Delight.

I am such a fan of Nars eyeshadow products but have never tried any of their lipglosses so this was such a good chance for me to test one out finally. I can report that Turkish Delight is the prettiest light pastel pink with just the right amount of pigmentation and it's non sticky and long wearing. I would say this lipgloss looks nice on it's own or layered over a lipstick to give a really nice glossy look.The last product is the Natural Flush Blusher by EX1 (3g for £7.99)*.

Firstly I am loving the rose gold packaging, I feel it adds a really luxe look. The blusher itself is a nice light formulation with good pigmentation/colour payoff and it adds a nice subtle glow to your cheeks and looks nice and natural.

I have to say, I am really impressed with the selection of products, each and every one is something I would definitely use/purchase and it introduced me to EX1 and Goldwell who I will be looking at more closely in the future.Now I have shared all the treats that I received, how about I now share what you guys have the chance to win?!

Saturday, 16 August 2014

Hope you're all well. Today I am bringing you a review of a gorgeous package I received from the lovely Naomi over who blogs at www.ohhellomango.co.uk/ and has a Etsy shop selling cute jewellery and printables to help organise yourself (even for blogging!). I was lucky enough to be selected to try out a piece for myself and after much deliberating I opted for the beautiful Gold and Silver Grunge Cross Necklace which retails for a bargain price of £3.50!

The necklace came in awesome leopard print tissue paper and with a business card, it arrived in super quick time and I've already been wearing it a fair bit.

Each necklace is handmade and this one has little crosses in different colours and textures on a mid length chain, perfect for a grunge look or just to compliment a plain top.